Gathering Feathers

There is little doubt that the most exciting time to photograph Long Tailed Tits is when they are lining their nests with feathers. The only problem of course is that you have to find a nest at the time when it is being lined which takes less than ten days. This year , because of the extended winter weather, nest-building is about a fortnight later than normal and last week I managed to locate a nest, in a gorse bush, that was being lined. Visits were made by both birds at approximately ten minute intervals and they particularly liked white feathers. click here
On a fabulous day of sunshine this week I found my first butterflies of the year with both Small Tortoiseshell and Comma enjoying the warmth. Chiff-chaffs are now singing in many localities so lets hope that Spring has finally arrived.